[dis] What’s your take on the dark ambient genre? It seems a little esoteric or
self-indulgent when you describe ambient music to someone accustomed to more
radio-friendly material.
[Eric] Well to start off, I very rarely listen to ambient or dark ambient music.
There are people who do some really interesting stuff but for me it’s not
something that I listen to too much. I have to be in the right mood for it
to work for me.
When I describe my music to someone, who you know is not going to know what
ambient or dark ambient is I usually just say it’s sort of soundtrackish.
Like something you’d hear in a movie based in outer space or underwater.
As far as my take on the dark ambient genre I would go with esoteric but I
don’t really see self-indulgent. To me, the term self-indulgent is really
negative. I don’t think you can call a whole genre of music
self-indulgent. Possibly certain people who create the music might be but
that’s a whole different story. I’d say there would be self-indulgent
people creating all forms of music. Maybe I’m self-indulgent and that’s why
I have such a negative reaction to the term?
How do you approach songwriting? Is it fully improvised or is there a
structure or theme you create beforehand? What inspires you to write music
and in what capacity do you wish your audience would hear your music?
Starting out I used to have ideas of what something would sound like but by
the time I got half way done it was way off in another direction. There are
a few occasions where I have a thought for a piece and work towards that but
the majority of my stuff I would say is sort of a journey and I just go
where ever it takes me. Not to sound all mystical and corny but I think
that’s a good explanation of how I record my stuff.
What inspires me? I would say it’s usually other music. If I hear
something that really hits me I’ll get really inspired to record. And that
usually happens while I’m taking a bath for some reason. I should probably
take more baths because I haven’t recorded anything new in a really long
time.
I think the best way to listen to my music is probably just hanging out with
headphones on. There’s a lot going on in each track. I’m just always
blown away and happy whenever someone is listening to my stuff. I still get
shocked when people email me and tell me that they listen to my music and
they really like it or it’s done something for them. I never expected
people to want to listen to TCOB but there’s a small audience out there
which is still just crazy to me.
I would say the most popular musician with whom I could compare your music
and concepts is Brian Eno. Does he play a role in your sound? What are some
of your influences?
That’s a very huge compliment. I don’t even know what to say to that. I
knew Brian Eno from Roxy Music but I actually didn’t know about Brian Eno’s
ambient work or any “ambient” music until a few years after I started
recording. The only thing that I ever bought from Eno is “Music For
Airports” which is beautiful. When I started recording I was all about
repetition and to hear that first track on MFA was really great. Just the
minimalism and the repetition was what I was all about. When I heard it, I
thought he had balls for putting something out like that. Something that
you know the majority of people aren’t going to get. Musically, it’s very
simple but the idea behind it was genius. Minimal and Repeat. I haven’t
really listened to enough Eno to say he’s played a role in my sound.
My influences are bands like My Bloody Valentine, Bowery Electric, Windy &
Carl, King Tubby, Pole, Cocteau Twins, Flying Saucer Attack, early
Pink Floyd. Low was a
big influence early on just because they were creating their own thing.
Music that was really, really slow and they would play this stuff out live
and there would be people who would get it and there were people who would
get pissed and it didn’t affect the band. They did this music and didn’t care
what anyone thought about it. So not only the ultra slow pace of the music
was influential but the attitude they had about creating music. Of
course I could be way off base and Low went home and cried every
night.
What’s a live show like? Do you do collaborations with other artists or are
you primarily solo?
I really love playing live. Shows always seem to go over really well for
me. Maybe because they see a guy with a guitar on stage and it sounds
nothing like a guitar so it’s fascinating for them. I remember in 1996, I
saw Windy & Carl and had no idea who they were. I thought they were a folk
duo with a name like that. But when they started to play my jaw hit the
floor. I’d never heard a guitar sound like that and I was just shell
shocked. So I think maybe there’s some of that. People standing there
trying to figure out what’s going on? Live, the sound is not as dark as the
studio stuff. It’s much more ethereal. I’m actually playing my first show in
about a year in a couple days and I’m trying to come up with some
ideas to make it
more interesting.
I’ve done a couple collabs but it’s mostly just me. I played with Ben
Fleury-Steiner from Gears Of Sand a couple years ago which was a lot
of fun. A friend of mine, Nick Bradley from the band Lake and Oceans
and I are trying to get something going with myself on guitar, him on
guitar or bass and a drummer which would
be a lot of fun.
What’s your guitar setup? Feel free to go into as much or as little detail
as you want.
I just looked at my set up and I’m actually kind of shocked and
embarrassed for some reason that I have six delay pedals. A Loop
Station, a little Wah in some stuff I do, some Reverb, sometimes some
Pitch Shifter. I think that’s it?
Besides music, what else occupies your time?
Well I have four kids so that takes up a LOT of time. Could be why I
put out an album every six years. I love to play basketball. I just
started going back to school this semester which has been interesting.
And I’m always searching for new music and going record shopping.
______
Big thanks to Eric for the interview.






Talking heads